But Techpark and Eunos Technolink are shaping up to be Singapore's latest art enclave.

Five art galleries and two auction houses have set up shop there in the last few years. The latest are Linda Gallery and D'peak Art & Gallery, which opened in the past month.

Other art-related businesses too found a space in Ubi. An art restorer has his workshop, and two art dealers have offices there.

Selling art amid car showrooms seems incongruous at first, but this made perfect sense to Indonesian businessman Ang Andi Bintoro, 57.

He opened the Singapore branch of D'peak, his Jakarta-based art gallery, at Eunos Technolink a fortnight ago.

'It didn't take me long to decide my gallery should be located here,' he said. 'People who buy cars in Singapore already have a bit of extra cash.'

The businessman had a dealership for Audi and Volvo cars in Jakarta in the 1990s. But when sales for luxury cars dipped during the economic crisis in 1997, he converted his 10,000 sq ft car showroom into an art gallery and opened an art auction house as well.

Now, he is looking to recreate that in Singapore.

Other art businesses have also been lured to Ubi and Eunos by lower rentals and high-ceilinged warehouse space that is perfect for showing large works of art.

Mr Teo Han Wue, 62, executive director of private museum Art Retreat, says people are often taken aback when they step into the gallery.

He says: 'They look up and down to take in the ceiling size. They are also surprised to see art in a tech park. A lot of times office workers drop by. By being based here we are reaching out to people who normally would not go to an art museum to see art.'

The low overheads for large spaces are a big pull.

For example, Linda Gallery pays $15,000 a month in rent for its 5,000 sq ft gallery space in Tanglin Village. The owner, Mrs Linda Ma, who is in her 40s, paid $1.5 million for a 6,000 sq ft, 99-year leasehold space in Eunos Technolink.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!